The International Monetary Fund (IMF) Resident Representative, Iyabo Masha, on Friday 18th January 2018 at Aberdeen presented three computers to a local NGO, Domestic Helpers Organisation (DHO). Chief Executive Officer and founder of DHO, Chelcy Alma Heroe, explained the nature of their work which specifically is with domestic helpers or workers, women or men commonly known as nannies, house girls or boys who help clean homes and offices. These set of people, she said, are basically being left out, rejected, discriminated, abused and no one thinks about them. As an organisation they are working with them to promote their status by reducing child labour, prostitution, domestic violence and teenage pregnancy. Global survey states that 83% of domestic workers constitute women, “there are men but basically we are working with women. We want to make their life meaningful as they are serving the nation,” she said. She continued that they are working with the Ministry of Labour and they were informed that these people deserve every employment benefit. “But if we look around they are not enjoying any of these things, so we are here to advocate for them so that what they deserve will be given to them, their rights are being abused as they have no voice,” she added. A needs assessment survey conducted by DHO shows that these workers work overtime, under-paid, not paid on time and their employers sometimes pay them as and when they chose to. The three IBM laptop computers are standard IMF economist equipment that come with extra set of batteries and pre-installed with licensed software. Masha said that even though their primary work is to engage government but they also make sure that they create a difference in the community by seeking out NGOs and CSOs and try to help them in the context they can. She described the work of DHO, as a noble pursuit as they engage and help the less privilege to get a better deal from society, what they owe them and to be able to do their work better. When the issue of donating the said computers to non-profit charitable organisation came up they were constrained into deciding which organisation should benefit from it, so she asked her team to look through the list of CSOs and NGOs. From that list, four were nominated and it was agreed that the one whose model has a meaningful message would be selected. The shortlisted organisations she said were into economic advocacy, research and think tank. “DHO seem to have that kind of compelling message, a message that resonates not only in our office here, but our headquarters and all over the world. These are the kind of messages that international organisation is trying to support, so that is how we came to the conclusion,” she said. She said that she hoped that the organisation will find the equipment useful, not only at the administrative level but also to capacitate the domestic workers in building their technical skills. “There is a whole world of information out there, that you can virtually go to earn a university degree just by seating in front of a computer and doing so many different things. So we hope that these computers would be part of that journey for these people that you advocate for” she noted.
ZJ/19/1/19
By Zainab Iyamide Joaque
Monday January 21, 2019.